Calculating machine



Ap 30, 1940. A. THOMAS CALCULATiNG MACHINE Filed Oct. 1, 193"! 2Sheets-Sheet l HTTOQNEY April 30, 1940. A. THOMAS CALCULATING MACHINEFild Oct. 1, 1 957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 197 7' ORA E Y Patented Apr. 30,1940 UNITED, STATES CALCULATING MACHINE 1' Arthur Thomasf Wallington,England, assignor to Powers Accounting. Machines. Limited, LGIIdOnEngIand, a company of Great Britain Application October 1, 1937,: SerialNo. 166,823

r In Great Britain October 10, 1936 ,2 Claims. (01. 235-61) -Thisinvention relates to mechanism for controlling theengagement ofaccumulator" wheels with their actuators in calculating machines,particularly record-card controlled tabulating ma- 5 chines. I"

According to the invention mechanism for controlling the engagement ofaccumulator wheels with their actuators in a calculating machine,comprises a crank member adapted to be turned through half a revolutionto move the accumulator wheels into or out of engagement and means forrotating said crank member with a gradual acceleration and decelerationwhereby the wheels are brought into and away from their positions ofrest at both ends of their travel, with a gradual movement wherebyshocks are avoided.

A preferred construction according to the invention will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of exampleas applied to a record-card controlled tabulating machine.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows the mechanism according to the invention in sideelevation, I

Figure 2 shows the mechanism in front elevation,

Figure 3 shows the means for actuating the mechanism shown in Figs. 1and 2 from the main shaft of the tabulator and'Fig. 4 is a section onthe line IVIV in Fig. 2, but to a larger scale.

In the construction shown in the drawings the accumulator wheels I aremounted on a shaft 2 carried between two arms 3 pivoted to the machineframe at 4 and extending below the toothed 5 sectors 5 with which thewheels I are to engage.

Pivoted to the shaft 2 is a frame comprising,

two side members 6 connected by a block I which has a downward extension8 forked at 8a (Fig. 4). Mounted in the fork 8a is a block 8b held inplace by a retaining bracket 80 secured to the portion 8 by screws 8dand to the block 8? by a screw 8). Passing freely through the block 8bis a crank pin 9 projecting from a cylindrical member 10 secured to ashaft ll mounted in bearings in plates l2.

Secured to one end of this shaft l l is an arm I3 pivoted by apin andslot connection l4 to an operating lever l5 which is pivoted at a pointl6 between its ends to an arm I! projecting from a rocking plate 43which actuates the accumulator control mechanism.

The end of the operating lever l5 remote from the arm l3 on the crankshaft I l carries a pin l8 engaging in a cam slot l9 formed in a plate20 fixed to the, machine frame, this cam slot being shaped to constrainthe operating lever to execute a predetermined motion when displacedlongitudinally.

When'the accumulator wheels I are in engagement with'their actuators 5(Fig. 1) the crank pin 9 is in its uppermost position and the arm l3 onthe crank shaft is in line with the operating lever l5, the pin [8 onthe latter being at the end of the cam slot 18 which is remote from thearm I3.

To cause disengagement of the accumulator wheels the actuating plate 43is rocked clockwise whereby the operating lever 15 is movedlongitudinally towards the arm l3 on the crank shaft ll. As theoperating lever [5 moves, the cam'slot l9 causes it to swing about thepivot l6 whereby it is attached to the arm I! projecting from therocking actuating plate 43. This swinging movement combined with thelongitudinal movement causes the end of the operating lever l5 which ispivoted at l4 on the arm l3 on the crank shaft II to swing in anapproximately circular path about the crank shaft as centre, whereby thearm l3 on the crank shaft and the shaft itself are turned through thepin and slot connection l4 between the operating lever and the armallowing for any discrepancy between the purely circular motion of thearm and the actual path followed by the end of the operating lever.

Moreover the cam slot I9 is so shaped as to cause the swinging movementof the operating lever I5 to accelerate gradually at the beginning ofthe movement and to decelerate gradually at the end of said movement,whereby the accumulator wheelsare brought into and out of engagementgently and without shock, and are also brought into and away from thefully disengaged position likewise gently.

It will be noted that although the operating lever acts somewhat afterthe manner of the connecting rod of a reciprocating engine, the cam slotenables the mechanism according to the invention to start and stop in adead centre position without difliculty or excessive friction.

The means for rocking the plate 43 are fully described in the co-pendingpatent application Serial No'. 166,822 of Arthur Thomas entitledImprovements in calculating machines, filed Octoher 1, 1937, andtherefore only a brief description of this mechanism will be given here.

The mechanism comprises a vertical link 41 having a head 48 formed witha slot engaging a pin 45 in the plate 43. At its lower end the link 47is pivoted to a lever 5| pivoted to the machine frame at 52 and carryinga roller engaging a cam track formed in a disc 53 secured to the mainshaft lfll of the machine (Fig. 3).

A spring loaded detent lever 82 having two recesses 83, 84 (Fig. 1) forengagement with a pin 85 on the plate 43 serves to retain the latter ineither of its two positions.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the inventionincludesaccumulator control mechanism comprising a crank member adapted to beturned through 180 to move the wheels into and out of engagement withtheir actuators, and an arm for rotating said crank member, said arm,when the wheels are in or out of engagement, lying in a straight linewith an operating lever pivoted thereto which is displacedlongitudinally to effect rotation of the crank, said operating leverbeing constrained during its longitudinal movement to means for guidingsaid frame in a reciprocatory path, a shaft, a crank on said shaft, aconnecting rod connecting said crank to said frame, whereby rotation ofthe crank through 180 and back again causes the frame to execute acomplete reciprocation to and fro, a second crank on said shaft, anoperating lever for rotating said second crank, pivoted thereto andlying in a straight line therewith when said second crank is in eitherof its positions of rest, means for moving the operating leverlongitudinally and means for tilting said operating lever at thebeginning of each movement to eliminate the dead centre position. 2.Mechanism according to claim 1, including a rocking member for movingthe operating lever longitudinally, said lever being pivoted between itsends to the rocking member, a guide plate having a guide slot formedtherein, and a pin in the lever at the end thereof remote from saidsecond crank and engaging in said guide slot, said guide slot beingshaped to cause the end of the lever which is pivoted to said secondcrank to swing in an approximately circular path.

ARTHUR THOMAS.

